Welcome to Lexie’s Kitchen! Since 2007 we've been on a journey to recovery with our youngest son. Through diet and targeted biomedical treatments we have made great strides in healing him from the inside out. Click here for the full story and a few words about the ingredients I use.
It's been a long, cold, windy six months and we are pining for warmer weather. For the last two days we've been snowed in. School was cancelled and roads were a mess, so we hunkered down and plotted.
"How can we speed old Mr. Jack Frost on his way?" I asked the kids.
"Let's make ICE CREAM!" they cheered.
Joining me today is the lovely Missy Chase Lapine! Many of you may know Missy as "The Sneaky Chef." I discovered Missy when she published her New York Times best-selling cookbook The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals. Her brilliant trick for sneaking veggies into picky eaters' diets is one I use to this day.
The basis of The Sneaky Chef cookbook is to cook, puree, and freeze different combinations of fruits and veggies. Then, as needed, they are pulled out of the freezer and mixed into the recipes Missy provides in her book. And though Missy's cookbook is not gluten-free, dairy-free or egg-free, I feel the concepts she uses can be applied to a diet that is.
Following wild success with her cookbook, Missy has branched out to create some tasty products for purchase. This week we tried two of them and loved 'em both—especially The Sneaky Chef Pasta Smooth Red Pasta Sauce and all its hidden veggie goodness. I don't know about your kids, but mine like theirs chunk-free, and this red sauce fits the bill!
Tips for Getting Kids to Eat Veggies
Missy has two children of her own so she knows how trying to get kids to eat healthy and nutritious meals can be an uphill battle. If dinner is a struggle for you and your family, here are four of Missy's tips for getting kids to eat veggies so you can all enjoy the time around the table.
TIP #1 Don't plead, beg, threaten or bribe kids to eat anything.
This will only result in a power struggle. The less you show them that you care about what they are eating, the more likely they will try the healthy foods you secretly want them to eat!
TIP #2 Shh, don't tell them it's healthy!
For reasons I cannot begin to understand, when children know something is good for them, they think it can't possibly taste good, even if it really does!
TIP #3 "Hide" healthy foods in kids' favorite meals.
Yes, this is the exact premise of The Sneaky Chef method, books and food line because it's a successful win/win approach for both parents and kids. Just make sure your sneaky additions are fairly bland-tasting and similar in color to the food it's hiding in, so your kids don't notice. For example, puree cauliflower and zucchini and mix it into a cheese sauce for mac 'n cheese. Or use The Sneaky Chef Smooth Red Pasta Sauce for pizzas, pasta, lasagna and more—it contains eight completely hidden veggies and a taste everyone will love!
TIP #4 Sneak + Teach!
Now that your family is eating Veggies Tonight, Without a Fight™, be sure to use this opportunity to teach proper nutrition. Serve those beautiful green veggies in their natural state, alongside the sneaky dishes. Now that the pressure is off and you have peace at the family dinner table, your kids will be more receptive to learning and trying new, nutritious foods!
This Giveaway is Now Closed
Congratulations Karibeth ... you are the winner!
If you'd like to win a copy of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals cookbook (not completely gluten-free, dairy-free or egg-free):
Giveaway closes April 19, 2013 @ 5:00 pm PST.
This post is sponsored by The Sneaky Chef® but the opinions are my own!
[Heads up: this video contains a few expletive words]
A fellow blogger just shared this on Facebook.
Take 10 minutes to watch it.
I promise you will walk away inspired to get gangsta with your shovel!
The So Delicious Dairy-Free 2013 Recipe Contest has kicked off over at Go Dairy Free and the big prize up for grabs—a $500 Wllliams-Sonoma gift card!
Go Dairy Free and So Delicious have teamed up and are looking for the tastiest recipes made using any one or more So Delicious nondairy products.
This contest is open to everyone. Enter here.
To view entries that have been submitted and to vote for your favorites, visit (and follow) the So Delicious Dairy-Free 2013 Recipe Contest Board over on Pinterest.
I use So Delicious products in some of my favorite sweet treats. I've rounded them up for you here. Enjoy ... and they'll never know that these goodies are dairy-free!
Dairy-Free Peach and Cherry Yogurt Pops
Click here for the recipe.
Dairy-Free Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
Click here for the recipe.
5-Minute Mug Brownie
Click here for the recipe.
Passion Fruit (Lilikoi) Cheesecake Parfaits
Click here for the recipe.
This week's weather has left me feeling hopeful and dreaming. Hopeful that warmer days are around the bend and dreaming that maybe, just maybe, I will get to garden this year.
Gardening is something that feeds my soul.
When the Great Recession hit we had to sell our home and move north for work. We left behind a great little house and a sunny garden spot. For the last three years, not having a garden has left me feeling sort of incomplete and I am done with feeling that way. I have let a teeny yard and a strict rental agreement dictate what I can and can't do.
Well, enough is enough! This year I am going to have a garden and this is how I am going to do it.
That's right, I'm going mobile with a Portable Container Garden from Garden365™.
If we end up moving this summer, I can take the garden with me.
If it hails as it often does where we live, I'll just roll it on into the garage.
It's the perfect solution! It may not be a half acre plot, but at least I'll be able to grow an abundance of herbs. I am beyond excited to get everything planted! Updates to come.
Copyright © 2013, Lexie's Kitchen. All rights reserved.
Affiliate Links: Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links. I receive a small commision whenver a product is purchased through these links. Occasionally I receive products in exchange for a review or giveaway post. However, all opinions expressed on Lexie's Kitchen are my own, and I only suggest products or services that I believe my audience could benefit from.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and the statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the FDA. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Authorship: Lexie Croft
Print Post